Visit the Foxes! Over 100 Foxes waiting for you at Zao Fox Village!

Imagine going outside and looking around you and seeing dozens of foxes roaming freely! Each vying for your attention and a picture with you! Such a place does exist – it’s called Zao Fox Village, and it just might be one of the most interesting animal sanctuaries that you’ll ever hear of!

Zao Fox Village is a fox sanctuary in Japan where over 100 foxes (6 different breeds) live and roam freely on the sanctuary grounds. When you visit, you can get as close to the animals as they will allow you!!

Here’s how it works:
Like most sanctuaries, you pay a small entrance fee to enter the sanctuary itself – about 1,000 yen for adults (which is about $8.40 USD), 12 and under are free. At the start of your visit, you’ll find penned in areas which is the sanctuary’s “petting zoo” type area…the residents here include animals like bunnies, ponies, crows, and goats. Then you’re into the sanctuary itself which is a large open forested area with trees and rocks and various places for the foxes to roam. Some fox “shelters” have been placed throughout the sanctuary where you might see foxes sleeping or resting. Benches are placed throughout the grounds for visitors to rest and enjoy the animals.

You are allowed to feed the foxes from a feeding platform and foxes do indeed surround the platform in hopes of a tasty morsel. Animal feed is sold for 100 yen for a small bag (about .84 cents (USD)) The sanctuary does not want you to feed the foxes by hand, but instead they encourage you to throw the food. The reason for this is that although the foxes do live in a sanctuary, they are not domesticated animals… rather they are still wild animals that could bite or nip you were you to feed them food from your hand.

As you wander through the sanctuary, it won’t be hard to spot the foxes (there are literally about a hundred of them). They will be sleeping, sitting watching you, or perhaps even following you (some are bolder than others). You can wander around, or if you prefer just sit on a bench and enjoy these special animals that you’re unlikely to ever see in such abundance again. (Many visitors have alot of luck by just sitting or standing still as these foxes apparently are fairly curious and will wander quite close to if you are unmoving, in the hopes that you have food for them..)

Types of Foxes at Zao Fox Village
The types of foxes you’ll see at the village include:

Where it is & Hours:
Zao Fox Village (also known as Miyagi Zao Kitsune Mura) is located in the mountains of Miyaga (approximately 3 hours from Tokyo). There is a train station in nearby Shiroishi, however from there you’d need to have a car or take a taxi about 20 minutes to get to the village. Currently the website says they are open daily from 9am – 5pm.